Category: Dance Studio Marketing
How Content Marketing Grows Your Dance Studio

Content marketing for your dance studioPeople are actively looking for targeted, compelling, and relevant content to expand their knowledge and help them make buying decisions. This holds true whether they’re deciding upon a new phone to buy, a new hair stylist to visit, or which movie to see on a Friday night.

We live in a world where people want to make up their own mind about what they need to solve their problems. To that end, they’ll likely spend quality time on your dance studio website (and those of your competitors) before they first register for dance classes.

Creating content related to the topics your prospects could be searching for is called “Content Marketing”, and it’s one of the best ways to separate your studio from your competition, build authority, and attract (& retain) new dancers. And a big bonus: Regularly creating worthwhile content on your website can help your dance studio rank higher in search results.

A fine example of content marketing is found on the School at Steps on Broadway site. Their ‘Tips of the Month” page is chock full of valuable, engaging content.

 

Why Content Marketing?

By educating prospects about the world of dance and providing them advise and recommendations, you are delivering indispensable information before they even call or walk through your studio’s door. This relationship will make it FAR easier for them to make their decision, and much more likely that the decision will be that your dance studio is a perfect fit for them.

Content marketing not only builds your reputation in the community and positive relationships with your prospects and customers, it generates more traffic to your dance studio’s website in the first place.

Most dance studios have yet to discover and use content marketing. You’ll have the edge over your competitors if you deliver great content to your current and future customers!

 

What Types of Content Work Well?

So what types of content will drive more traffic to your studio’s website? There are many answers to this question, but here are several types that work beautifully. The key is to write content not to improve your search engine optimization, but to share knowledge. When this is the purpose of content generation, great exposure and improved ranking are generated naturally.

1. Product Reviews

Is there a new leotard style or dance accessory that you’re excited about? Share it with your dancers and with the community at large. Is there a new dance hobo bag that people are chatting about? Check it out for yourself and share your opinions on your website.

2. Q & A

These are easy to come up with and quick to produce. Think of the top questions asked of you and your staff by prospects, current dancers and parents. Just present the question as your heading or title, and the answer as the content.

3. How To’s

These are fantastic, and immediately position you as the dance expert that you are. How To’s can range from “How to Pick a Dance Studio” to “How to Execute a Perfect Pique Turn”.

How To’s on performing dance steps are tailor made for video, and are wonderful additions when embedded on your website.

4. Success Stories

Share a story of how a student went from a tender 5 year old tapping for the first time to an accomplished dancer now entering college. Explain the challenges she had to overcome and the solution you and your studio provided. People love stories, and the benefit to using these is that they demonstrate the success dancers have if they join your studio.

5. Interviews

When you interview a respected dancer or choreographer, you gain respect from your customers and prospects, and often, gain large amounts of traffic. After you invite someone to be interviewed and are accepted, the easiest way to do the interview is by email. Sure, an audio or video interview is fantastic, but keep it simple when starting out. Simply provide the interviewee with a list of questions, along with your thanks for participating, and then post their reply on your website.

Think in terms of what will be helpful, interesting, and/or amusing to your website visitors. We are speaking of WEBSITE content here, by the way, but your social media channels will also benefit when you link the two together. For example, when you’ve written a new product review for your website, write a blurb about it along with a link and post about it on Facebook. Tweet about a success story, with the link leading folks to the full article on your site. A video embedded on your website will also reside on your YouTube channel.

By providing answers to what potential clients are looking for online, you’ll not only create value they’ll be grateful for, you’ll also establish your personal brand, leading to a wealth of new opportunities and new dancers through your doors.

Are you getting started with content marketing? Let me know what challenges you’re facing in the comments below!

Best wishes,
Stacey

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Are you embarrassed by your dance studio’s website? Ready for a site overhaul? Take a look at our dance website portfolio, and see whether we’re a good fit!

 

How to Create and Set Up a YouTube Channel for your Dance Studio

Used thoughtfully and well, you can use the power of video to introduce your dance studio to new audiences and bring new dancers through your doors. You can also use it to engage and delight your existing dancers and parents, increasing their loyalty further still.

If you are contemplating a dance studio video marketing strategy and/or already have videos on hand, then creating and setting up a YouTube channel for your dance studio is a very smart move.

Yes, you can upload videos to YouTube without having a channel, but that would mean missing out on some great benefits. A YouTube channel is like a mini-personal TV station for your dance studio. It’s a great medium to share videos showcasing your dance expertise, interviews, testimonials, and studio tours, to name just a few.

YouTube channels provide one place to store all your video files, create and manage playlists, and provide viewers with links to your dance studio’s website and social media sites. When viewers subscribe to your video channel, you get the added benefit of increasing your base of your local fans.

I’ve got 2 videos for you today – How to Create a YouTube Channel for your Dance Studio, and How to Add Channel Art and Outside Links to your Studio’s YouTube Channel. If you have questions or would have a request for a new video topic, please let me know!

How to Create a YouTube Channel for your Dance Studio

How to Add Channel Art and Outside Links to your Studio’s YouTube Channel

Best wishes!
Stacey

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Are you tired of your studio’s website? Ready for a website overhaul? Please take a look at our dance studio website design portfolio, and see whether we’re a good fit!

 

Dance Studio Video Strategy Planner (With Printable Worksheets!)

Ok, so creating videos to market your studio and liven up your internet presence sounds great, but who has the time? It seems overwhelming, right?

Things will be MUCH more manageable with a dance studio video plan. There are two free printable worksheets at the end of this post, but before we get to that, a few tips:

Decide which types of videos will work best for you and your studio

Your criteria might be which videos would be easiest to film, which would create the most buzz in your studio, or which would best invite newbies to join your dance family.

Check through the list of the 14 Best Types of Dance Studio Videos, and make note of your top few choices. You’ll use those in the printable worksheets.

Set yourself up for success

If you plan to use a hand held video camera or iphone to take studio videos, practice with it so you are comfortable when the time comes.

If a friend or employee at your studio is knowledgeable and interested, ask them to be the studio videographer for your informal videos.

Use studio events as an excuse for video taking

Ask a trusted friend to unobtrusively take behind-the-scenes shots at your recital. See if one of your girls will come an hour early to Nutcracker rehearsal, so you can quickly film short videos teaching basic dance steps.

Open houses, studio picnics, and local performances are all great times to take videos.

Plan to film in batches

This one tip will make the difference between failure and success. Filming in batches allows you to video a number of segments quickly and easily.

For example – Having an open house soon? During the event, spread the word that you’d be grateful for any parents or students willing to give a testimonial. If you’ve previously set up one corner as your ‘video testimonial space’, this will be super easy and quick for them as well as you, and you’ll be able to film a number of video testimonials in one afternoon.

For best results, do a test with a teacher prior to the open house, in order to make sure the lighting and sound quality is decent.

Create a video posting schedule

For best success, create a studio video strategy!Once videos are done, it’s tempting to pop them up to YouTube and be done with it. Instead, create a video posting schedule. It feels sooo good to create a juicy batch of content and then schedule it out in advance.

Think about it – if you create a batch of short, fun videos by interviewing each of your 8 dance teachers and then schedule them to be released every other week, you’ve got 4 months of video content ready to go!

YouTube makes this easy, by allowing you to schedule a private video to go public at a later time. So upload all your videos at once, mark them as private, and then schedule them to go public one at a time as per your posting schedule. Voila!

In addition to scheduling out your videos, remember to post them in more than one spot and embed them onto your website. It’s an extra step that can pay off big, but it’s a step that most people don’t take.

Uploading video content on a regular basis helps build momentum, keeps dancers, parents, and prospects engaged, and helps with your SEO. If you’re serious about successfully using videos, make a plan!

To help you with this process, here are two printable forms for you:

Please feel free to join our bi-weekly-ish dance studio marketing newsletter to make sure you don’t miss any piece of this Dance Studio Video Marketing series!

Best wishes,
Stacey

 

What Are the Most Successful Types of Dance Studio Videos?
Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube—that’s almost an hour for every person on Earth (source, YouTube). Of course, many of those are watching cute baby animals, or an audition for a television performance show that is either a) absolutely awesome, or b) painfully awkward, but an whole bunch of viewers are looking for advice on how to do something or how to make something work better. And a lot of them are in the market for a hair salon, tax accountant, or… wait for it… a dance studio.
Dance marketing through videosVideo is a super powerful method to drive targeted traffic to your dance studio’s website, while strengthening your search engine optimization. A successful video marketing strategy is about audience and engagement, and you can keep your dancers, dance parents and prospects engaged by regularly uploading video content to your website and YouTube channel.
A promo video for your studio is fantastic, but for best effect, mix it up! Be creative – be bold – and produce lots of diverse video content. Create videos that can stand alone, but that also hook in your viewers, investing them in learning more about your dance studio and dance in general. Then, make it easy for them to see more.

What are the most successful types of dance studio videos? Here are some fun and unique ways to use video to entertain your audience and promote your dance studio.

 

14 Video Types that Work Best for Dance Studio Video Marketing

  1. A video sample of one or more of your dance classes in action
    Having descriptions of various dance styles on your website is always helpful to those in the market for a studio. How much better if they can see a bit of video footage of each class type!
  2. Recital numbers in progress of being learned
    For those considering studios for their child, seeing a clip of a recital, Nutcracker, or competition number being learned will help demystify the process and make them more comfortable to take the next step. Current dancers and dance parents from your studio will simply have fun watching as their hard work comes together.
  3. A tour of your dance studio
    This type of video is fantastic for new prospects. It makes them feel comfortable to visit the studio in person for the first time, and get past the ‘heebie jeebies’ of attending their first dance class (or taking their child to their first dance class). Once people can visualize themselves in your studio, they’re halfway to becoming customers.
  4. Take your visitors behind the scenes
    What does a typical day at the studio look like? What goes into running a successful studio? Pull back the curtains and share a little bit of your life at the studio.
  5. A professionally created promo video for your school
    A sharp, professional promo video is a great marketing tool for your studio. Make sure it properly reflects your studio’s personality and philosophy!
  6. Brief, informal commercial for the studio
    Professional promo videos are excellent, but informal ones can be effective too. What they lack in slickness, they gain in a warm immediacy that can make prospects feel welcomed and comfortable.
  7. Video testimonials
    Testimonials are great. Testimonials with an accompanying photo are excellent. But for maximum effect, take video testimonials! With a video, prospects can see and hear your dancers and dance parents, and get a real sense of how they feel about your studio and classes.
  8. Debunk myths
    Talk about the top myths or misconceptions in the dance world and give real examples to show why they are truly myths. Wanting to see more boys in your classes? Bust the myth that “dance is only for women”, and you’re on your way.
  9. Quick bio videos of all staff at the studio
    Having a series of videos that introduce you and your faculty. Doing so can make prospects more likely to connect with you and more likely to choose your dance studio over others.
  10. Interviews with the studio owner, artistic director, teachers, or students about different dance topics
    This type of video can be fun and educational, and allows prospects to become familiar with you and others at the studio – what you look like, what you sound like, and what your personality is like.
  11. Video of your dancers in different events – Parades, competitions, mall events…
    The exhilaration of performing as a member of your studio can be felt by anyone who chooses to watch one of these videos. It can give them a sense of what it would be like to be part of your dance family, and can go a long way to helping newbies take the first step.
  12. Demonstrations of how to do various dance steps
    Nothing shows the expertise of you and your staff more than videos demonstrating how to do basic dance steps. Keep them short, punchy, and entertaining. What a great introduction to what it’s like getting instruction at your studio!
  13. Ask questions and answer them
    What do you get asked most about your dance studio, or dance in general? Most of us can think of a list of at least 5 to 10 questions we get asked often. Make short 2 to 3 minute videos clips where you state the question and then the answer. These are easy to make and extremely valuable to dance parents and prospects alike.
  14. Have dance parents (or members of your staff) ask common questions about studio life
    For example, many people wonder at what point their daughter will be able to dance en pointe. Having a dance parent ask the question in a video allows you to fully answer it, while taking the pressure off those who may be uncomfortable to ask the question face to face. They will also realize they’re not alone in wondering. After you’ve answered the questions, ask your viewers to leave their answers below in the comments section. This will start the discussion and foster community.

Why should you create and share videos?

Simply put, the interest and relationships you build through videos will connect you with viewers in a way no other marketing can!
Take out a piece of paper or start a fresh document, and make note of any video types from the list above that appeal to you. This list will come in handy when you create your video plan. And please feel free to join our bi-weekly-ish dance studio marketing newsletter to make sure you don’t miss any piece of this Dance Studio Video Marketing series!

Best wishes!
Stacey

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Are you tired of your studio’s website? Ready for a website overhaul? Please take a look at our dance studio website design portfolio, and see whether we’re a good fit!

Market your Dance Studio by Tattooing your Students!

Top of Mind Awareness – Or – Hey, that’s so crazy it just might work!

If you are successful in your advertising and promotional efforts, you will be the first, or at least one of the first, dance studios that come to mind when parents are looking for dance classes for their children. This is ‘Top of Mind Awareness’, and it’s crucial in order for you to grow your studio.

You have to proactively send messages into the market to get and retain top of mind awareness. Better yet are messages that create a buzz and get people talking. Traditional means of advertising and promotion are invaluable (such as a dynamic, appealing website, and periodic mailings), but to take it up a notch, find unexpected places to showcase your studio name and logo. Here are three ideas to get you started:

1) Custom Postage Stamps

Did you know you can create custom postage stamps with your studio logo or a photo of your dancers for your mailings? These are natural conversation pieces, and can serve as excellent promotional tools.The cost is reasonable, at about 50 cents per stamp, and the price goes down if you order multiple sheets.

You likely wouldn’t use the stamps for bills and such, but for a targeted mailing, the extra expense can be worth it. Make sure to use a company sanctioned by the United States Postal Service. Details and links to approved companies can be found on this USPS webpage (click on the center ‘postage’ tab to see their recommendations).

Custom postage stamps are the smallest advertisements you’re ever likely to see, but ones that are likely to get noticed.

2) Temporary Tattoos

Ok, this is a wacky idea, but your students will love it. At your next studio BBQ or Parents’ Night Out event, pass out temporary tattoos with your studio logo on them. Or add them as a costume accessory for your competitive teams – they are certain to jazz things up.

On several websites these days, you can order tattoos that are inexpensive, safe, easy to use, fun, and yes… temporary.

Temporary tattoos for your dance studentsHere are a few such websites. All but the Tattly site have their pricing online. Costs vary, but seem reasonable overall. One site I found charges $78 for 500 tattoos. Another site starts at $12.99 for a page of tattoos. Please keep in mind that I have not used any of these companies myself (no great call yet for Studio of Dance. com tattoos). Please do your own research, and go with your gut and common sense.

Sticker You.com
Sticky Life.com
www-Temporary Tattoos.com
Creative Temporary Tattoos.com
Tattly “Designy” Temporary Tattoos

Not only do kids and teens love temporary tattoos, but they are likely to show them to their friends, who will immediately think your studio is the coolest ever. Temporary tattoos – talk about a walking billboard!

3) Yard Signs

I drove by a house the other day with a sign in its yard – “Tigard Athletic League – Softball Signup – Mon through Thurs 5-8”, which got me to thinking. Outdoor advertising yard signs are used by contractors when they remodel a home, and painting services advertise in the same way. Certainly politicians make generous use of them. Why not use these outdoor signs to your studio’s advantage?

Many companies sell yard signs through their websites, and the cost is surprisingly reasonable. To give you an idea, I quickly found an offer for 100 full color, 12 x 16 inch yard signs for $99.00 (not including wire stakes or shipping). Or you can just get one sign for $19.95, or 5 for $12.95 per. Do a Google search for ‘yard + signs’ to find a company that is a good fit for your needs.

Keep in mind that signs work best if they’re bold, consistent with your dance studio’s branding, and professionally done. They must tell the viewer your message quickly, so keep the text short and the font large. Don’t use ALL CAPS, as it is more difficult to read. And do remember to maximize the effectiveness of your sign by including your studio’s website address.

Would you like to generate enthusiasm for your summer camps and programs? Wanting to increase community interest in your Nutcracker production? Do as the painters and politicians do, and embrace the use of yard signs.

The above three ideas are meant to attract eyeballs and generate a buzz. The more buzz about your studio, the more people are aware of it. And with that, the chances are increased that your studio will achieve Top of Mind Awareness.

How do you keep your dance studio ‘top of mind’ in your community? Please share any thoughts in the comments section below.

Best wishes,
Stacey

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Are you feeling that your studio website isn’t worthy of your amazing dance studio?Take a look at our dance studio website design portfolio, and see whether we’re a good fit!

 

How to Reach a Whole New Pool of Potential Dancers

I’ve recognized recently that although I am outgoing in many situations, I also have a shy streak. That shy streak could potentially keep me from a collaboration that is marvelous both personally and business-wise, and so I’m actively practicing getting shyness out of my system.

For me, that means going to conventions and actively participating, seeking out other people who are also running their own businesses, and being more open (read “vulnerable”) in my newsletters and blogposts. It’s my version of living on the edge. Ha.

While it can be uncomfortable to reach out and communicate with other small business owners, doing so can result in benefits for you both.

For example, do you want a great way to reach your target market and bring new dancers into your studio? Try teaming up with other small businesses and form marketing partnerships (aka: “Buddy Marketing”). To determine those that are a perfect fit, look for businesses that don’t compete directly, but serve the same audience.

Use your imagination to find fun ways to cross promote services. For example:

  • Keep menus from a nearby café on your front desk, in exchange for the café promoting your new salsa class to its adult customers.
  • Offer coupons for a nearby yoga or pilates studio, who can likewise display flyers for your studio. There is always a chance that moms taking a yoga session may be considering dance classes for their young daughters.
  • Are you pleased with your photographer or videographer? Offer their brochure on your front desk, in exchange for their handing ‘free class’ coupons out to their clients. Your businesses are complementary, not directly competing, and so both can benefit from a partnership.
Marketing partnerships can expose your studio to a new pool of potential dancers

If you’re cross promoting with a company, it makes good sense to also exchange website links. The additional online exposure is nice, and the link can also raise your dance studio’s search engine standings.

Of course, cross promotion with a dance supply store is ideal, if a little hard to come by. Try approaching a local dance supply store owner with a suggestion to share advertising, co-sponsor an event, or run a contest together.

These tactics can expand your market reach and considerably cut down the cost of business promotion.

Collaboration. Partnerships. Alliances. Call it what you’d like – it pays to partner with another company that targets the same audience!

Have you done any “Buddy Marketing”? Please share! You can post comments in the section below.

Best wishes,
Stacey

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Are you feeling that your studio website isn’t worthy of your amazing dance studio?Take a look at our dance studio website design portfolio, and see whether we’re a good fit!
Boost Enrollment by Jazzing Up your Referral Program

Referral programs are a low-cost, easy to implement marketing tool that encourage your existing students and dance parents – your greatest asset – to recommend your dance studio to their friends. Referral programs can transform your students and/or their parents into “marketing missionaries”, who spread the word and convert friends and acquaintances into customers.

A lovely by-product of the referral program is that students/parents who give referrals become even better customers in the process. Once someone stands up and makes a public statement about you, psychologically they will become more loyal to you and your studio.

Using a referral program can boost your dance studio's enrollment!

Setting Up your Referral Program

Rewarding customers who share positive feelings about your studio to their friends and acquaintances encourages them to do just that. The incentives, whether a percentage or dollar amount off fees, a free class or a tangible reward such as a t-shirt or gift certificate, need not be excessive, but should get your students to take notice, and hopefully, action.

From a simple thank you to unlimited referral discounts, below you’ll find rewards used by actual dance studios (although the names have been changed). Use these as a guideline to create your own reward system, if you haven’t already done so:

  • Thank you to our loyal customers for your gracious referrals; it is your support that makes Figtree Dance so successful.
  • Refer a friend to Miss Natalia’s! If they pay registration and first month’s tuition, you receive $25 off your tuition!
  • When you share your dance experience with your friends, they get excited. When you bring them along to class, they have a blast. When they join because of you we want to say THANK YOU! We will CREDIT 50% of your friend’s first month of tuition to YOUR dance studio account when they register. Make sure to inform our office when your buddy registers so you get credit!
  • If you pass the word along to a friend, we will thank you by crediting your account $25 towards your recital costumes. There is no limit to the number of referrals you may get! Your friend just needs to mark your name in the “Referred By:” section on the back of the registration card.
  • Earn Free Dance Classes: Ask the front desk for our referral discount cards and give them to your friends. They get a $50.00 discount, and you receive a $50.00 credit towards your next enrollment when they register!

Remember the Students!

The above examples aim at the parents of students, or the persons paying the bill. Don’t forget the students themselves in your referral program. Young people are famous for influencing each other; they might as well be influencing each other to take classes at your studio!

Try, for example: “Encourage one of your friends to sign up for classes (must be a new student), and you’ll receive a $20.00 gift certificate to Discount Dance Supply (or a new leotard from our studio shop, or…)”.

Turn it Into a Contest

Another way to maximize the potential of your Referral Program is to have an annual contest, with the person responsible for the most new customers receiving a more valuable prize. For example: “Once the referring student recommends 4 new students, their name will go into a drawing to take place at the 2013 Recital for a chance to win 1 full year of FREE TUITION.”

Getting the Word Out

Here are some excellent ways to spread the news about your referral program:
  1. A great way to introduce your new and/or improved referral program is to write about it in your studio newsletter, and ask dance parents and dancers for their help. After mentioning how much you value their business, explain that you’re creating a referral program and that their referrals would benefit you both. Then outline the referral program, with its discounts or rewards and rules.
  2. Of course, promoting your referral program through your website makes a whole lot of sense too. Elite Dance Academy in Boulder, CO does an excellent job of this.
  3. Why not provide your existing customers with the tools they need to recommend you to their friends even more effectively? You can do this easily by providing referral cards for your dancers and dance parents to use. Misty Lown wrote an excellent post on this for the Dance Studio LIfe blog.
  4. I recommend using professionally printed business cards that customers can give to their friends and acquaintances. They are incredibly inexpensive these days at sites such as Moo.com and Vista Print.com. (No affiliation here; let me know which online print company is your favorite!) This technique works particularly well when there is a clear benefit for both your existing customer and the prospect they are approaching.

    The card may offer, for example, a $20.00 discount for the new customer, and a $20.00 credit for the existing customer. Assign a number or code to those who wish to participate in your referral program, and put that number on the back of their cards (or have them do so). When the new customer presents the card in order to receive their discount, you will know who was responsible for the referral, and reward them in turn.

Keep in mind, your customers will most likely want to refer your studio to others. They’ve found a great dance school that fits their needs perfectly, and they want to share their “little secret” (you) with their friends. Perhaps they will be seen as a hero, or someone “in the know.” Your students may feel like special club members or rebels for your cause. And when their friends grow to love your studio as well, your referring customer will feel as though she/he was able to do them a great favor.
You can significantly increase new business by developing a referral program, alerting your students and their parents, and encouraging them to participate. You’ll be nurturing an all-volunteer sales force that boosts student enrollment and leverages your marketing dollars. So why not give your students and their parents a reason to talk positively about you and begin your own referral program? Doing so harnesses the power of word of mouth and creates a win/win situation for all.

Best wishes!
Stacey

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In need of a new website for your dance studio? Take a look at our dance web design portfolio, and see whether we’re a good fit!

Summer is Nearly Over? Back to (Dancing) School!

And just… like… THAT! Summer is nearly over. How in the heck did that happen so fast? Again?? Hopefully you’ve had a little time to decompress and maybe even get away on a well-deserved vacation (in addition to managing your summer classes, camps, and/or masters workshops). You’ve also hopefully had time to make sure your website materials are up-to-date and implement a marketing technique or two.

Here’s a marketing idea that celebrates two things – the end of summer and your dancers/dance parents:

Plan an end-of-summer ice cream social or picnic, and use it as an opportunity to bring your ‘dance family’ back together. Ask people to share what they’ve done this summer. Have students who participated in summer dance or theatre programs share their experiences, or better yet, perform a number they learned during summer session.

Encourage families to bring friends and neighbors to join in the fun, and be sure to pass out referral coupons. Depending on what works best for you, a new student who signs up might receive the first two weeks free, a discounted registration fee, or a free t-shirt, with the referring dancer receiving the same or something similar. Consider offering a special, larger gift for those who refer three or more students.

photo of children

If you don’t want to have the ice cream social at your studio, you can rent a room at your neighborhood community center or host it at a nearby park. Provide the fixings for ice cream or frozen yogurt sundaes, as well as some games or activities. The money that you spend will be returned in the form of customer loyalty and new prospects/students.

Offering a free and fun dance class can help kids work off their ice cream while introducing newbies to your studio in a non-threatening way. Consider teaching something ‘out of the box’, such as Bollywood dance, so that everyone is on a more even level and so that all groups (even adults) can get up and moving.

Another way to provide entertainment, have fun, and inspire newcomers to join your studio is to have a combination of teachers and students do a short demonstration of each style taught at your studio. This can be done in a relaxed and fun way, so there is no pressure on anyone involved.

Advertise your event through Facebook and Twitter, as well as through posters, emails, and word of mouth. With a little planning and effort, the end of summer will segue into your busiest fall yet!

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In need of a new website for your dance studio? Take a look at our dance web design portfolio, and see whether we’re a good fit!

Quick!! Name a Reason Why People Should Visit Your Dance Studio’s Website!

It’s unlikely that people will visit your website without any reason. Sometimes curiosity is reason enough, and with a new or newly revised website, it often is. You can only claim “new website” for so long, though, and so it’s smart to come up with other ways to pull new visitors into your site.

Give people reasons to visit your studio’s website!

Here are some good reasons you can give to compel people to visit your dance studio website:

For current students and/or their parents –

  • Put out notices with a reason plus extra incentive to go online – “Register online – it’s quick and easy, and the first 5 students to register online will receive a free studio t-shirt”
  • Try sending brief email teasers – “New recital photos are online… go to (www.ourstudio.com) to see your children on their big night!”
  • Put a sign on the front desk with special offers accessible from your website – “Go online to join our new Referral Program and earn class discounts”

For new and prospective dance students –

  • Offer valuable free information. Examples of this include: clear and concise descriptions of dance styles, articles with helpful tips, such as “Nutrition for Teens: Helping Your Kids Eat Healthier”, or a calendar of local events and festivals.
  • Add more photos to your website, as prospective students are sure to be impressed (and want to be featured in an online photo themselves someday).
  • Remember to offer an online coupon, which will help prospects take the jump from interested party to dedicated member of your studio family.
Offer interesting content and extras to bring in more website visitors

If you look at your dance studio’s site from a customer’s point of view and don’t see reasons to visit and return, create some! Studio websites that go beyond being an advertisement by offering quality information and extras are more likely to get and retain visitors. This can mean more eyeballs on your website and more dancers in your studio.

Best wishes!
Stacey

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If your studio has been around for awhile, you’re likely already listed in our dance studio directory. To check on its accuracy and to add your dance styles and map for free, please visit our website at Studio of Dance.com!

The #1 Way to Increase the Number of New Students Entering your Dance Studio

If your studio is providing a remarkable experience for your dancers and dance parents, it’s likely you already receive new students through word of mouth. You can boost this number quickly, however, by doing one simple thing… ask for referrals!

This may seem like a no brainer, but nonetheless, asking your dancers and dance parents to refer your studio to others will increase your referral business. Why aren’t they doing so already? It’s not that they don’t want to help you out; it’s that it never enters their minds.

If the suggestion makes you squeamish or uncomfortable, remember that most people are quite happy to help a person or business that they like and respect. There is no negative cost to them, and they’ll feel good about helping out their family’s dance studio.

So make it a habit to ask for referrals once or twice per year. You can do this in a monthly newsletter or at a parent meeting. You might say something like the following:

“We’ve had such a wonderful year at competitions, and our upcoming recital is going to be fantastic, thanks to the hard work of the students and teachers.

As we’re getting close to summer, I’d really appreciate it if you would mention us to friends or neighbors who may be in need of a studio for their children. Summer classes are a great way for them to dip their toes in, and you’ll of course receive a referral bonus for each new student who mentions you and signs up!”

Reframe your thinking if necessary – there’s nothing pushy or cheesy about asking for referrals. Assuming you provide quality dance training in a caring environment, people will be happy to do so. It’s one simple thing that can have huge positive results!

Best wishes!
Stacey
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